Belle would be VERY disappointed in me if she knew it took me 3 days to update her blog. My apologies everyone! The stress of Monday really took a number on me and by the time I got home from work I really just wanted to crawl into bed!
We dropped Belle off with Dr. Hadley at 8 a.m. Monday morning. There were tears, fears, and lots of hugs for our little one, but at the end of the day we knew she was in the best hands with Dr. Hadley and that it was now up to her and God to get through the surgery. We left the veterinary office under the “no news is good news premise” so we didn’t actually hear anything until early afternoon when Dr. Hadley called to let us know that the surgery was over and Belle was in recovery. I could feel the built up tension and anxiety drain from my shoulders when I heard the news! She mentioned that they would continue to monitor her for blood clots, fluid buildup, infection, in addition to other things and that she would call again later with more updates.
Tuesday morning we got a call that brought me tears of joy. She was on the move! Pretty incredible when you consider the fact that she just had her leg removed less than 24 hours ago! She continued to do well throughout the remainder of the day and Dr. Hadley even called her a “rockstar” when she called for the afternoon update! When you go through something like this, you know your dog and you know what she is capable of, but sometimes you let that little voice get in your head where you start to wonder if they’ll pull through. If they have the ability, the fight, the desire to make it happen. And by golly she did!
This morning we are scheduled to pick her up at 10:30 a.m. providing that the night went well. I cleaned the main level of our home yesterday and will be getting in set up as our makeshift command center for the next two weeks. We will eat, breathe, and live in the kitchen…all three of us! I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared out of my mind to get that first glimpse of what Belle is now going to look like. I hope that is normal. It is not that I will love her any less or think that she is not the same beautiful girl she was on four legs, I just think I feel a sense of responsibility for being the one who decided to take that one leg that will now make her “special” for the rest of her life. As Brandon puts it, “I hope she doesn’t hate us for that”. In my heart of hearts, I know she won’t. Her purpose in this life is to be with her family and eat all the meat she can so I know there is no place she would rather be and at the end of the day she knows why we did it!
Below is a picture of the collar I got her yesterday! Bada$$ three legged girls deserve bada$$ hot pink collars with skulls!
Thanks again to everyone for the continued thoughts and prayers. They truly have helped me through this when there were times I didn’t think I could make it on my own. It truly does take a village sometimes!
Love,
Bethany
On the way to the vet…one of my favorites!
Her new collar!
Oooooh so glad to hear she made it through surgery! Whew!!!
She IS a badass, she is a GSD GIRLDOG WHO ROCKS the Tripawds Nation!!!!
It’s OK to be scared, we were all freaked out. It’s always more of a freak out for the humans though, you’ll notice she doesn’t even care and wonders why everything is so weird at home. Sleeping in the kitchen will be verrry interesting!
Keep us posted and let us know how we can help. And give her a smooch from us.